Members of the Raid special intervention unit of the French police take part in a terrorist attack mock exercise, on April 4, 2016 around Bordeaux's Euro 2016 fan zone, during a training as part of the security measures set for the upcoming European soccer championships | Geroges Gobet/AFP VIA Getty Images

France holds mock terror attacks ahead of soccer tournament

Less than five months after terrorists struck at the Stade de France and elsewhere in Paris, French emergency services on Monday simulated large-scale terror attacks at stadiums ahead of this summer’s European soccer championships.

More than 600 members of the emergency services held an exercise in Bordeaux, where around 60,000 people are expected to gather to watch matches on a big screen in the city’s Place des Quinconces during June’s tournament, France 24 reported. The mock-attack scenario involved a bomb blast and armed guards firing into the crowd.

Another simulation was held at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne, where four matches will be held, and involved a mock chemical attack.

“We want Euro 2016 to take place in the best conditions and that’s why we’re multiplying exercises to test the systems put in place to quickly intervene in a context where the threat is extremely high,” said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who was in Bordeaux.

After the Paris attacks last November, and March’s Brussels attacks, French authorities are preparing to deal with radiological, biological and chemical attacks.